


gods kneel before our crime

by hellmalik



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: apocalypse thingy, brian isn't really brian, it's dark and there's a couple of minor character deaths, let me know if i missed a warning, there's some brian/justin if you really want there to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 17:16:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10746243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellmalik/pseuds/hellmalik
Summary: peter 2:4for if god spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgement





	gods kneel before our crime

**Author's Note:**

> this is so different from anything i've ever posted before and i'm sorry if it sucks. i just didn't like the idea of it just sitting in a folder on my computer, collecting dust, when it could be out here instead.  
> i couldn't really get the right feel of it in the end and i had to end the story long before i had originally intended, but it's okay. i hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> as always: un-beta'ed, any mistakes are my own and i don't own anything. 
> 
> (title from rip out the wings of a butterfly by HIM)

_peter 2:4  
for if god spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgement _.

-

it wasn't the apocalypse, it wasn't ragnarok, it wasn't doomsday, it wasn't even the end of days. 

but it might as well have been. 

-

ethan was the first to go, had fallen behind on weak legs that couldn't carry him over the ruins of the crumbled building in front of them, the heat and dust making his throat close up.

he wasn't a friend from _before_. 

his lungs couldn't handle the dust, his left knee barely able to support his weight. justin knew he wouldn't make it. the high tempo they moved in would have been too much for ethan to deal with in the end. and he was alone and new to the group, no one felt the need to help him more than necessary, they had others to worry about. 

justin rarely looked behind, kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. his right arm sometimes outstretched towards daphne to make sure she didn't fall behind or tripped over something in the dark. 

no one seemed to have noticed ethan falling behind, his whimpers and grunts harmonizing with the gravel and sand pressed underneath their shoes. the loud gunshot rang in the silence around them. the sound vibrating in the air, echoing throughout the partly crushed buildings towering over them. the sound made justin pause for just a short moment, daphne walking a couple of steps ahead before turning to look at him. her eyes softened. 

justin looked backwards for the first time on their journey, but there was no trace of ethan. he gave daphne a quick look before walking back the way he had come. the gun might have had more than one bullet. 

he didn't look at ethan's skinny, white body when he reached out to grab the gun from his still warm fingers. he didn't dare check for more bullets, just wrapped it up quickly in an old t-shirt in his bag pack on his way back to daphne who hadn't moved an inch. 

without a word they kept walking, trying to catch up with the group again. 

\- 

ben wasn't from _before_ , but he acted as if he was. it might have been because he was alone and clung to daphne like justin used to cling to his bed on monday mornings. justin figured it was because daphne looked thinner by the day, her cheeks sinking inwards, her wrists small enough to be those of a child. her legs kept pushing her forward, her boney hands gripping unto justin's arm whenever their path turned too steep. justin figured ben felt the need to protect her. 

and when daphne's ankles gave out halfway down a small hill, justin was happy that ben still didn't seem affected by the small amounts of food, biceps still big and strong, his breath not coming in pants as often as his own. he carried daphne for a while and justin was very grateful to have him around. without daphne, the gun in his bag pack would have weighed him down and he would leave this world the same way ethan had. 

the heat was pressing in on them from all sides, the sweat permanently covering his body. the dust, kicked up from their heavy feet, sticking to him everywhere. 

during the nights they took cover in abandoned, ruined buildings, trying to huddle together for warmth, but without touching too much. no one said anything. justin sometimes lay awake in the middle of the night and thought he heard whispers from the twin brothers, but it could just as well have been the wind. 

there wasn't much sound anymore. 

\- 

justin tried to keep count of the days. 

the constant darkness surrounding them made it difficult, so he took to just drawing a short line in his notebook with a broken pencil before laying down next to daphne, hoping sleep would come sooner rather than later. so far he had 17 lines drawn in the corner of the page. 

the man always walking at the front of the group had told them they _would be there soon_. justin barely had the energy to worry and wonder what _soon_ or _there_ meant. 

the man acted as some leader for the group of lost and poor people who had no one else or nowhere else to go. justin had quickly forgotten his name, hadn't bothered to ask again, but he followed him, and daphne followed him and that was all that mattered at this point. 

\- 

the silence was loud around them, justin was slowly going insane but he feared his voice had stopped working. 

the wind sometimes made the ruins around them whistle, rumble, groan deeply, before silence took over again. the sound of the stones and dried up leaves on the ground beneath their feet was loud and insisting most days. 

ben hadn't walked next to them in three days. justin intertwined his fingers with daphne's and tried with all his might to squeeze her hand. 

-

justin had been sleeping lightly when there was a noise from above he hadn't heard in what seemed like forever. 

_wings_. 

wings moving through the wind with great power. 

he pushed himself up and looked out of the window, shattered glass lying at his feet. 

the sky was dark like usual, but now it had been filled with a red glow. justin was reminded of that time molly had cut her hand on the sharp kitchen knife, the blood slowly tickling from the wound while she screeched. he drew in a sharp breath at the memory and pushed it to the back of his mind. he was getting quite good at repressing memories from _before_. 

someone in the group moved around, their foot scraping against the hard and unforgiving ground. 

the flapping of wings caught his attention once again and high above him, so high up that he had trouble getting his eyes to see anything at all, were two dark figures moving swiftly across the sky. big, black and agile wings moving up and down with powerful strokes. 

they quickly moved out of his line of sight and he went back to his space on the floor beside daphne. 

(the sky was still bleeding in the morning when they got ready to walk again. everybody looked up, worried eyes and lips pressed tightly together, but no one said anything). 

-

justin was definitely going insane. the heat must have been getting to him, the darkness playing tricks on his eyes, cause there was a man following their group. it didn't seem like he was trying to catch up to them, sometimes justin even thought him gone, but he always turned up again. justin spotted him out of the corner of his eye most days, but he didn't tell anyone. if he had noticed, so had others. he didn't have enough energy to give it much thought. 

-

ben started walking with them again, his body still strong, carrying him forward easily. when he got too far ahead he stopped and waited, just to make sure both justin and daphne could catch up. 

the day he drew line number 22 was the day ben opened his mouth and talked. 

"he's leading us to a safe place," his eyes were narrowed, face turned towards the man walking in front of the group. justin tried to hum but his throat was scratchy from lack of use and nothing came out. he coughed roughly. ben shot him a quick look. 

"we aren't in danger," daphne piped up, her voice weak. 

"we aren't safe either," ben kept his voice low, as to not draw attention to their conversation. justin did a quick scan but no one showed any signs of having heard them talk. 

justin counted the smashed cars they passed. they had left a city, the dead and flat country stretching out before their eyes. their feet kept moving. 

-

a dead and withered forrest loomed in the distance. on the outskirts, hidden in-between black and dry branches, was a muddy and dark lake, where they all sat down to rest. justin noticed their _leader_ looking around with suspicion etched on his face, his hands jittery. 

one of the twins scooted closer to the edge of the lake and docked his hand into the dark water. justin, who had been studying the ashy colour daphne's skin had taken lately, only heard her soft gasp, which was followed by an agonizing scream from the other twin. 

there was suddenly movement all around, everybody fleeing from the place as quick as they could. ben ran to the screaming boy, who was curled up on the ground next to the place where his brother had been just seconds before, picked him up and ran away from the lake as fast as his legs could carry them both. the boy kept screaming. 

justin only saw water rings move silently on the surface of the lake. there was no wind. 

\- 

one day the man following them suddenly had two creatures walking beside him, one of each side. if justin didn't know better he would say they were dogs. except they were much bigger and moved differently than a dog would. he guessed wolves, but in the darkness it was hard to see. they never strayed from the man's side. 

no one else seemed to notice. 

-

justin dreamed of the blond colour of molly's hair. he dreamed of the smell of baked bread in the morning, of the bitter taste of coffee, of the way salmon practically melted on his tongue. 

he dreamed of lips pressed tightly against his, of dipping a paintbrush into a dap of paint, of his favorite blue sweater, of swimming in the ocean. 

he always awoke with a gasp and unable to fall back asleep. 

-

"we're gonna be saved." 

they had fallen so far behind that the rest of the group were small dots in the horizon. ben sounded sure, even though his voice cracked. _we're gonna be saved_. 

daphne, who was almost too weak to walk without being supported by something or someone by now, looked up at him. she dragged her feet across the flat ground beneath her. the sound was annoying. her hands were shaking where they gripped the straps of her bag pack. 

"when we get there, we will get out of this hell. god has a plan," ben looked up at the dark sky, still bleeding red from all around. 

_god has a plan_.

-

the next day the sky started rumbling. _thunder_ justin's exhausted brain applied, but it didn't stop again like thunder would have done. suddenly the world wasn't quiet anymore, and falling asleep at night wasn't as easy as it used to be. at least the rumbling made it easier to block out the whimpers and wails from the lone twin boy crying every night. 

justin saw bright red eyes behind his eyelids whenever he closed his own. 

when the lightings started raining from the sky every few minutes the group stopped walking to watch the sky for a while. and when there was a lightning big enough to light up the space around them completely, a man appeared in front of them.

his skin was dark red, almost black in patches, and the air around him seemed to shimmer, as if he was on fire. his eyes darker than anything justin had ever seen on a human before. justin almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity from it all, but he had tiny red bumps on his forehead, almost as if he had horns. _demon_ his thoughts screamed and he grabbed daphne's hand. _this is the end_.

no one said anything and the demon was standing completely still, arms slightly lifted to the sides, palms facing the group. he closed his eyes, his face completely void of emotion. 

no one dared breathe too loud and not a muscle was moved. 

the demon tilted his head backwards and smiled at the sky before lowering his head again, his eyes opening and he looked directly at justin. the sky rumbled loudly and a lightning fell down right behind him. 

" _come_." 

a couple of people looked up, heads whipping around to locate the sound. because although the demon had opened his mouth to form the words, the sound had come from around them, not from him. daphne choked back a whimper. 

something touched justin's hand and he looked down to see two hell hounds flanking him, one pushed daphne aside to press against his leg. they leaned against his thighs and started walking towards their master. justin had no choice but to follow. the wind picked up and the world was flooded in sound like it had never been before. justin felt the urge to cover his ears. the hound on his right side snapped at his ankle and it's sharp tooth went through his jeans and caught the skin underneath. both dogs sniffed the air right away and justin felt their sudden energy vibrating through them. he kept his eyes on the demon. 

he lifted his hand and the dogs ran off to stand on each side of him, their red eyes following justin's every move. without them leaning against his thighs, he stumbled and fell to his knees. he was still watching him so justin pulled himself up but didn't walk any closer. 

they stared at each other, both standing completely still. the thunder rumbled and suddenly a strong wind ripped around them both. the dust and sand rose from the ground and justin had to shield his eyes, his hair whipped around and he fought to keep looking at the demon in from of him who didn't seem bothered by the wind. the hounds next to him growled but didn't move from his side. 

in the distance justin saw black fog coming towards them quickly, swallowing up everything else on the ground, covering the space behind the man in complete darkness. the lighting crackled behind the fog and the demon smiled at him, showcasing perfectly white teeth in sharp contrast to his dark eyes. 

the fog washed over them and justin was blinded for a few short seconds. when he was able to see again the world around them had changed. they were suddenly in what seemed like an open cave, over them sharp stones were hanging, dangling threateningly, daring them too make too much noise or move too violently. in some way everything seemed darker, hotter, more suffocating. looking past the demon still standing in the same spot in front of him, justin saw the world in flames. the crackles from the fire sounded loud and clear to his ears, black smoke rising from all over, rising up and covering the sky. in the distance was a range of mountains, all reaching up to touch the black fog, not quite tall enough. 

justin heard screeching, crying, howling, multiple creatures trying to be heard over the roar of the flames. he spared a quick look over his shoulder but found himself all alone, the group nowhere in sight. he sent a silent _thank you_ out to whoever was listening that daphne was safe. the hounds gave off loud and shrill howls before taking off in the opposite direction. 

before his eyes the man started to change appearance. where his skin was once dark red, almost the colour of blood, it was now pale and white. it seemed translucent in the darkness and justin had to blink an extra time. dark hair appeared at the top of his head, his eye colour getting warmer and lighter. 

the man walked towards him, steady feet that justin envied more than anything. he held out one hand towards justin and flames rose from his palm. when he smiled justin felt drawn to him, and without noticing his hand started to move towards the outstretched one of the man. his teeth were white enough to reflect the shimmer of the fires surrounding them and when their hands connected justin's body went alight with flames as well. he kept his eyes on the man, the _devil_ , in front of him, and tried to forget the world he had just left behind.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think x
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr as well: brlankinney
> 
> thank you so much for reading!


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